The present disclosure relates to a fixing device configured to fix a toner image onto a recording medium and an image forming apparatus including the fixing device.
Conventionally, an electrographic image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine or a printer, includes a fixing device configured to fix a toner image onto a recording medium, such as a sheet. For the fixing device, a belt fixing manner is applied. The belt fixing manner is a manner to form a fixing nip by making a fixing belt and a pressuring member (e.g. a pressuring roller) come into pressure contact with each other.
For example, there is a fixing device including a fixing belt arranged rotatably, a pressuring member configured to come into pressure contact with the fixing belt so as to form a fixing nip, a pressing member configured such that the fixing belt is sandwiched between the pressing member and the pressuring member, and a sheet member provided around the pressing member.
In the fixing device configured as described above, when the fixing belt rotates, the fixing belt slides with respect to the sheet member which is fixedly arranged. According to this, there is a concern that the fixing belt and the sheet member are worn out rapidly and the product lifetime of the fixing belt and the sheet member is shortened.